Shaker Aamer

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken with the US administration to reach an agreed timetable for Shaker Aamer to be brought to trial or returned to the UK.

Alistair Burt: On 6 July 2010 the Prime Minister confirmed to Parliament that we will continue to request the release and return to the UK of Shaker Aamer. We have reiterated this request to the US Government on numerous occasions. Most recently the Foreign Secretary raised Mr Aamer's case with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 17 November 2010, and following this the Deputy Prime Minister raised Mr Aamer's case when he met Secretary Clinton at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Summit in Kazakhstan, on 3 December 2010. Senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are continuing discussions with their US counterparts on this issue.
	The outcome of these discussions remains uncertain. Any decision regarding Mr Aamer's release remains in the hands of the United States Government.